Retaining walls are typically provided adjacent to highways, bridges, overpasses and the like and are designed to support highway fills or cuts especially in those applications where there is insufficient room adjacent such highways, bridges, overpasses and the like for providing an unsupported and natural slope.
Conventional retainer wall assemblies are typically comprised of substantially T-shaped or L-shaped members which include a face block and an integral elongated bar extending away from the face plate. Such integral members may be cast as a unitary structure from a suitable casting material such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,294, issued Aug. 4, 1987 or alternatively, may be cast of a casting material and further provided with a metallic reinforcing bar such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,166, issued Jan. 10, 1978. The above-mentioned structures are extremely heavy and significantly complicate the fabrication, handling and assembly of such large and bulky components. In addition, the elements have limited interlocking capabilities which degrade the strength, stability and ruggedness of the completed retaining wall assembly. Other systems reduce the weight of the overall structure by utilizing metallic bars which are mechanically fastened between face plates and anchor members, typically being anchored to the face plates and wrapped about the anchor members as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,113, issued Apr. 30, 1985. These structures have the disadvantage of experiencing significant corrosion in use requiring replacement at a much more frequent rate than retainer wall assemblies formed of rugged, non-corrosive materials, such as concrete. U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,113 describes a retaining wall system employing metallic rods joining the face plates and anchor members. The face plates of the retaining wall assembly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,113 also fails to disclose interlocking means for reinforcing, stabilizing and strengthening the face plates when fully assembled.